1 sb-800 or 2 sb-600's?

spudgunr

TPF Noob!
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
82
Reaction score
0
Location
NW Indiana
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I may upgrade my camera to a d80 which has commander mode. Am I correct in my thinking that I'd be better off selling my sb-800 and adding a bit of money to get two sb-600's? Obviously, if I stick with my D60 it won't matter because I won't be able to do off camera flash with either choice. Is the extra bit of power worth keeping the sb-800? What about high speed sync, the sb-600 doesn't do that does it? I honestly am not sure if I'm going to do more indoor or outdoor photography, so I'm not sure if indoor lighting would outweigh outdoor high speed sync or not. What are your thoughts?
 
Doesn't Nikon make a hot-shoe mounted commander unit like Canon's ST-E2?

If you're going for a more studio-type setup, or want to seriously get into off-camera lighting, I'd spring for two flashes over one, since you'll have added flexibility. If you're only going to use it on the hot-shoe, then I'd go for the more powerful and function-happy flash. I'm not familiar with Nikon products though, so I'm not quite sure what the fundamental differences are between SB-600s and -800s; a Nikon shooter or someone more familiar may have a different take on what to get.

As for high-speed sync outdoors, you'll probably get better results from using a 3-stop ND filter (called an 8x ND...how confusing is that?) outdoors and staying slower than your flash's max sync speed. That way you can make use of all of the flash's power instead of a smaller and smaller fraction of it as you stop-down the shutter speed.
 
Your SB800 can act as commander on your D60. So, if you are spending extra to get the new body to work with off camera flash, you could spend it on two SB600's instead and have a full working system with 3 flashes (although the SB800 will be stuck on camera). You could also upgrade to the D80 and have the commander flash fire the SB600's, but if you're only upgrading to do off camera flash work, you already have the key components, just need extra flashes to use.

The commander module is the SU-800 which has no flash but just sends the infrared info to the flashes the way the commander flash would. I would personally keep that SB800 though, as it is a great flash.

And if I'm not mistaken, the D60 may have the ability to high speed sync. If it's an electronic shutter like the D40 or older D70, you could sync at 1/4000 of a second if necessary. That you'll have to investigate.

My D90 max sync speed is 1/200, and I use Cactus triggers to fire so no high speed sync for me, but I have definitely been in situations where I wish I had it.
 
Personally, I prefer the intuitive menu of the SB800 over the 600 and additional GN number, but that is a personal preference. I'm not sure how much of a financial benefit it would be to sell the 800 to get two 600s. I would be thinking to add the 600s to the 800. I have yet to try the HSS.... seems I can get all I want at synch speed, but that's me.

Since the price increase, I would (now) get two 600s over one 800, but would not sell the 800 in hand.

This is all dependent on having Commander mode capabilities.......... I have a D80 and love it, but if you're going to "upgrade" for Commander mode, check out Thom Hogan's review of the D90...... the result is he actually prefers the D70 over the D80. Something to consider.
 
I would be selling the D60 to fund the D80, getting that not only for the commander mode, but also for being able to use AF lenses (such as the 28-70mm 2.8 sigma I just won on ebay....) so that fuzzies it up a bit. I wouldn't be spending the $400ish extra on a d80, only around $100 extra, not enough to buy a couple of sb-600's. I'm still tempted to go with the two SB-600's on the D80, but I haven't decided for sure. The high speed sync is the main thing that is making me hesitate since we've had issues with bright backgrounds. Being able to go with a fast shutter speed with the flash on would make it much easier to stand out, for instance when we are on the beach at sunset the sky directly behind us is pretty bright.

I don't know, I'll read more replies and get more info before I do anything too final.
 
The D70 has a flash synch speed of 1/500, whereas the D80 is at 1/200.

Someone correct me, please.
 
personally if you are upgrading bodies i would move up to the D90. it's a far superior body and not that much more. I run two SB-600's and they are great.

CLS is great for learning how to light, but you need to know it does have its limitations, which, depending on what you shoot, could pose to be an issue.
 
I would sell the 800 and get 2 600's in a heartbeat.

I got 3 SB600's and i've paid the same for them total for the same as 1 SB-900. If I need more power, just gang them up!
 
The D70 has a flash synch speed of 1/500, whereas the D80 is at 1/200.

Someone correct me, please.

There are ways to work around/beyond the max sync speed on the D70. David Hobby (strobist.com) uses this body in his Strobist DVD's and loves it because he can sync it to 1/4000 sec. I recently watched it but forgot how he does it, but I believe you would have to be using a different triggering device other than CLS.
 
Considering that the SB-800 is discontinued (and on Amazon **WAY** overpriced), the replacement is the SB-900.

My opinion is that if you already have one good commander unit (SB-800 or SB-900), then two SB-600s can give you:
- more power than a single additional light (SB-800 or 900)
- add more versatility than a single light.

My vote is 2 SB-600s. In fact, that is how I use it for the most part myself. When the 2 SB-600s are not on separate light stands, they are placed together into one one of either my 28" or 50" softboxes giving me more power than a single SB-800 or SB-900!
 
I'm still thinking of that vid of McNally in the desert with a gang of SBs. o_O
 
I would keep the SB-800 and add 1 SB-600 now and a 2nd later. There are things the 800 has features (commander mode for 1) the 600 doesn't and I appreciate the extra power the 800 has.

Still, since the 800 is discontinued, if you part with it, you may find it difficult to acquire another at a later date if you decide you want the extra G.N. it has.
 
Well here's the thing. Can you use it? If you have a D60 and two SB-600s then you have no means of using wireless CLS. If you just want wireless and not wireless CLS then you may as well get far cheaper SB-24s second hand somewhere.

Now on the topic of SB-600 vs SB-800. The only thing you gain is a second flash for CLS. What you lose is the ability for the SB-800 to control more flashes than your camera can in the future (4 groups vs 3), the extra reach from the SB-800, the -ve pitch adjustment for using the flash with a macro lens, the repeated flash function (which I find useful), the modelling light which some people find useful.

Also when you're bouncing a flash of something every little bit of power helps. The guide number of the SB-800 is not that fancy compared to the 600 when shooting straight ahead, but ... that all changes when you need that extra bit because your flash just didn't manage to properly expose the shot.

The D70 has a flash synch speed of 1/500, whereas the D80 is at 1/200.
Well now that seems...backwards...doesn't it?

Now if only they didn't do that because the presence of a shutter increases the image quality of a CCD. Backwards in some areas, forwards in others.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top